The trainer who worked with newly crowned WBC Heavyweight World Champion, Tyson Fury, explained how he helped to achieve the unexpected stoppage of Deontay Wilder, in this Click on Detroit interview:
A calm, assured, relaxed and likeable character, Sugar Hill Steward, who is nephew of the late great Manny Steward, explained how Fury had first shown up at the famous Kronk boxing gym unannounced, in 2010.
“Well, Tyson Fury, came to Detroit in about 2010 seeking Emanuel Steward. He just caught a plane over from England, to Detroit, to the Kronk Gym, and he was unannounced, and just walked into the gym, and told the guy at the front door, that he was gonna be the next heavyweight champion of the world.”
Sugar Hill Steward
In the interview, they showed the now famous clip of Manny Steward, who passed away in October 2012, describing how he also felt “Tyson Fury has the ability and I think, in my experience, will be the next dominant heavyweight, much along the lines of Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitchsko.”
Sugar Hill explained how, for the WBC Deontay Wilder fight, the game-plan had been to “fight like the Kronk fighters” – to “bring the Kronk style” to the bout, in order to “be aggressive” and “get the knockout”.
He continued “the knockout was very important for Tyson Fury, because the first fight that they had, it was a draw.”
“So, he thought he won the fight – a lot of people thought he won the fight – and he didn’t want to leave it in the hands of the judges — and that was something that I told him, because that’s what I was taught by Emanuel ‘don’t leave it in the hands of the judges, get the knockout,’ because that’s the only 100% for sure way you know you won that fight.”
He also described how the game-plan was to “increase his [Fury’s] punching power.”
“Tyson Fury was called ‘pillow fists’ by Deontay Wilder and [Wilder] says he doesn’t have a big punch, and Deontay Wilder is the biggest puncher in boxing.”
“The game-plan was to just be aggressive. Knockout the knockout artist. Tyson Fury is 6 foot 9, the biggest heavyweight in the division… people thought it was a crazy thing to do, for Tyson Fury to come in at 270lbs plus, because the average heavyweights now are 250.”
He explained the training regime a little, too “Tyson Fury, he trains twice a day, has five meals a day. He is very dedicated. He told me, that this was the first time he was 100% dedicated – he even didn’t drink Diet Coke!”
Steward explained how a large part of his pride in the result is because his uncle Emanuel “predicted this” and “for it to happen, and me to be a part of it makes it even better and makes me work even harder.”
So, what’s next?
“Right now, they have a 30 day time limit to decide whether they want to take the rematch, which will be the trilogy and from what I was hearing, the fight will be in June or early July of this year, 2020.”
“From what I’m hearing, [Wilder] wants it, and it’s not a problem for me or for Tyson Fury.”
Will he continue to train Fury?
“I believe so, yeah.”
